U.K. Retailer Angers Labor Groups by Not Anchoring Collective Plan

British retailer Primark said it would begin paying $9 million in long-term compensation to the victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, rather than wait for a collective plan. But its decision to act unilaterally has unexpectedly eroded its good will at being the most responsive to the deadliest garment industry disaster ever.

Primark, one of more than two dozen retailers whose clothes were made in the eight-story building, said it has completed assessments of the 580 workers or their next-of-kin who...